AIBU to think drivers (more so elderly) need to be retested?

[ayonoosh]

I know I'll probably get lumped with being ageist here. I want to preface I think all drivers should be tested after perhaps 10 years but once at retirement age or 70s, every few years?

I live in a town that's predominantly one way. In the past 7 days I have seen 2 elderly drivers run red lights. One elderly driver go the wrong way up a very well signed street, with other drivers beeping and flashing and they just kept going, one elderly driver driving on the opposite side of the road going onto a short duel carriage way (!!) and an elderly driver drive down the middle of the bollards in Tesco.

this isn't an unusual amount of it too, there are so many posts on the local community pages with cars and registrations and people posting about it. It is so incredibly dangerous. We have a uni in town too and have our fair share of young drivers, I do see them hurtling around town at stupid speeds but they aren't as common as the elderly drivers reported.

I know young drivers cause more crashes, but elderly people tend to have low mileage bias, I think if they drove mile for mile the stats may differ. Elderly drivers responsible for deaths have increased by 42% in the last decade.

AIBU to think mandatory testing for all, especially for elderly should be implemented? I know the money, time, stubbornness, etc etc make it unrealistic, and there are terrible drivers of all ages of course. But if age related reaction times are something that doesn't apply to you, then surely it's a tick box activity and back to driving?

im seeing increasingly more elderly pootling at 50 in the middle lane on the M25, as well as stupid taxi drivers doing it too. they ought to be retested too.

what's everyone's thoughts?

We've had two fatal accidents in the last few years near our village. Both were head on crashes on otherwise clear/quiet roads during daytime at normal/low speeds. Both crashes involved cars being driven by 80+ year olds who literally just crashed into each other - no reports of any reasons such as swerving to avoid other obstructions/animals/cars, etc., Just where one has veered to the other side of the road, maybe for a medical episode, and the driver coming the other way either hasn't noticed or hasn't reacted in time to swerve out of the way. All four drivers involved were all locals living in the village.

This is the trouble when you have rural areas with poor/no public transport as people think they have to continue driving when they're unfit and too old to do so.

There's also an elderly gent to drives around the village at literally walking pace, to go to the shop/chemist etc less than half a mile. Thank heavens he doesn't seem to go any further but he really shouldn't even be driving around the village. It's a big car too, an old Volvo estate, that he can't park so just abandons it on the roadside with his blue badge on the dashboard. He literally just pulls out of the junctions without looking, never stops, so it's all reliant on other drivers staying out of his way.

@Badbadbunny off topic, but beware of those McCarthy & Stone retirement flats. From what I’ve read, it can be very difficult to sell them without making potentially a big loss.

A piece here on MSE about it

But anything people say on here is anecdotal and therefore of little value.

Insurance companies actually have huge amounts of data and stats.

They have the ability to discriminate on all sorts of stuff and can identify groups that are truly high risk across thousands of people rather than on one or two anecdotes.

It's a competitive market too, so insurance is quite innovative in finding different ways to compete, such as black boxes.

I am surprised there are not insurance companies that offer lower premiums for people who are willing to present test things like eye test certificates. They could do it through someone like Specsavers and charge a fee. Maybe there is already. My guess is anyone who has a crash who does not have good eyesight is pretty much ended for driving anyway.

My guess is in the future people who are not up to driving will simply get taxed off the road, either through high premiums, refusal to insure or civil action.

We all see the accidents that occur due to bad eyesight and these are tragic. I'm pretty sure though that if the numbers were becoming a real issue as regards road safety and becoming a major cause of accidents either the government or insurance companies would do more about it.

With due respect, a careless elderly driver who evidently did not belong on the road, who killed my friend and didn't even stop (!!) isn't anecdotal and has completely changed how I see elderly drivers. As well as living in a town where they cause accidents every week, near misses daily, and are rude and entitled about it when someone dares to mention it.

ot may be anecdotal here, but the stats don't lie and neither do the insurance premiums for old people.

Gawd. Has anyone reported him?
he's another that needs to get off the bloody roads. Boils my pish!
they'd have something to say if a young person plows into their relative so why don't they also take the same stance with elderly folk!

it's so entitled.

Another thing that's evident on this thread, is the minute you say anything about elderly people not being able to drive there is uproar, there are pearl clutches shouting 'AGEIST' frothing at the mouth.

you never, ever see the elderly defending the youngsters though or even middle aged.

it's like they're superior. And from my experience (and it's only my experience I know) the elderly are the most rude and entitled age group I've come across, from working in customer facing roles since i was 16.
(I know not every elderly person is rude before I'm told off for generalising)

The second an elderly is racist, or homophobic it's 'aw bless them they're from that generation, they won't change now'

but if a youngster or middle aged person was racist, they don't get the benefit of the doubt (not that anyone should) of 'maybe that's the way they were brought up.'

the elderly are so protected by society and don't get called out for shit driving, racism, homophobia and the rest.

but it's okay, because we 'respect our elders'

Are you offering to help get his shopping/prescriptions for him so he doesn't have to drive?

It definitely a good idea to have some sort of mandatory in person assessment at a certain age though I think 80 would be a better idea as that is when cognitive decline really starts to come into play (just I know can happen younger but by 80 it is more likely)

This:

With due respect, a careless elderly driver who evidently did not belong on the road, who killed my friend and didn't even stop (!!) isn't anecdotal

… is the very definition of anecdotal!

It is just facts. Reaction times slow down with age, eye sight deteriorates with age. Many drivers will have passed tests 40-50 years ago- surely there needs to be safeguards around this?
Surely you are not going to argue that the vast majority of 70+ people are physically and mentally less fit than when they are younger?

Going to assume this is a joke??
How many people with epilepsy/ who are blind do you do this for? Or are you ok with those people driving?
It's HIS responsibility to take care of himself without endangering everyone else around him. Just like it is for everyone else!!

As I said, I understand the ongoing fees and difficulty in selling. Going into this with our eyes wide open. They suit us in terms of facilities, location, etc.

He can get his newspaper, shopping and prescriptions delivered. Or he could sell his Volvo and buy a mobility scooter which would be a lot safer.

I agree with you. So do you feel that as l lost my daughter to a drug addict who was 19 that all drivers should not be allowed to have a driving licence untill they are 30 years of age . One just does not know l think more and strict medicals are needed drug addicts and alcohol drivers should be banned for life as should medical unfit older drivers also we need a new license level for people who drive Suv sush as a commercial lorry licence.

I don't know how much coverage this case got in the wider UK media, but there was a 3 year old boy killed by an elderly driver in Edinburgh a few years back. The inquiry was held last year and found that the driver had significant cognitive impairment and should not have been driving.

The little boy's parents are currently campaigning for all drivers aged 80+ to have some kind of cognitive assessment before they can renew their licence.

Regardless of the debate about who poses the most risk out of the elderly or the young, I think the alarmingly increasing rate of dementia in the UK is something we need to address.

I recently had to stop an elderly relative from driving. It was hard. He initially refused to go to the Dr for diagnosis. I contacted the police but they said they’d have to see him driving to do anything about it. I contacted the DVLA and they said get a diagnosis from the Dr. Eventually I got my relative to the Dr and he was diagnosed, DVLA informed and stopped from driving. Up to that point though I had to resort to hiding the keys as telling him not to drive was ignored and overtly removing the keys unleashed holy hell (which left both him and his wife very vulnerable). As he still has capacity it was really difficult to manage - I couldn’t remove the car out from under him for example.

He is still in denial even now and keeps forgetting he’s not allowed to drive.

Had I not hidden the keys, I dread to think what might have happened. There’s no speedy process to address this.

Yes that is true, and it is really hard. I do wonder if the pp who didn't see the problem her MIL had stopping her parent driving would feel so bullish if was her mum or dad. It is incredibly difficult and you are right, there is little support to help you do the right thing.

I posted earlier about my 79 years old MIL driving. Today it was just as awful. Pulling off at junctions in second gear, wrong lane at roundabout then, going 35 mph in a 50 zone.
Final thing was turning into my road and literally driving across the junction and cutting up an oncoming car. The driver was furious but when I commented apparently I'm the bad guy and I got sworn at.
I've told partner he needs to go put and observe for himself.

Yes it's worrying lucky that my wife who passed with vascular dimentia did not drive . So l had no issues. My own daughter got killed by a drug driver he was 19 and how does one deal with that , you never forget. He got 5 years in prison . A young child , yes l saw the um accident or whatever you could call it . So with that in mind yes l still think all ages need retesting or monitoring and by a gp and sight tested as well . How does one deal with drugs or alcohol l don't know .maybe a complete life ban from driving . As to my own pain Over many years he passed away from drug addiction after 2 years from leaving prison . I have no answer to how one should feel . Plus young drivers is the driving test at a to low a age l don't know l mean there are good young drivers as well as good senior drivers l think we all need to know when to give our licence up for safety sack

More should be done to keep all dangerous drivers off the roads and I'd start with parents. The roads are markedly safer when the schools are on holiday with far less red light jumping, speeding/dickish driving and gobsmackingly dangerous parking.

No i dont recognise elderly drivers as being a menace.

I was waiting at temporary traffic lights on rdd at the weekend and 3 young lads in souped up cars sped past my stationary car probably doing 60 in a 30 and nearly knocking off a bike riding deliveroo driver who had the temerity to think that because his light was green, he was fine to set off.

It's never an elderly driver tail gating me.

It's never an elderly driver charging to the front of a queue in a right hand only turn then going straight and an cutting someone up by doing so.

I think all the retesting business is a load of ageist bollocks.

They're not the most dangerous road users and if they're doing low mileages then they're bloody well not on the road causing issues are they.

Jesus, these days old people are supposed to be silent, invisible and die before they cost any money in care home fees.

Statistically 85+ are the group most likely to be involved in a fatal accident.
But you keep to your ageist views about youngsters driving.

I agree OP. I work in Adult Social Services and am genuinely concerned regarding the number of reports we get around people still driving who absolutely shouldn't be. The DVLA do very little.

The statistics aren't as clear cut as people make out either. Young people are involved in more collisions but they drive more miles. As this graph shows, there is a sharp increase in number of collisions per mile driven amongst the elderly.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-older-driver-factsheet-2020/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-older-drivers-factsheet-2020

That’s a good idea. I’d be happy to do this test for a reduced insurance even though I’m not elderly. I think it’s a good idea for everyone. It could be voluntary until medical problems or elderly.